1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to surface inspection systems and methods, and more particularly to inspection systems and methods for inspecting bores.
2. Related Art
Manufactured parts, e.g., vehicle parts, such as seals, gaskets, or pistons, for example, are typically inspected during manufacture to ensure the parts are meeting certain predetermined specifications. Known inspection systems and methods include measurement systems that make physical contact with the parts during manufacture, such as profilometers, for example. These systems obtain data through relative movement between a stylus and the abutting surface of the part. Although this type of inspection system can provide accurate results, it can result in damage to surface being inspected and the inspection results are generally limited to a small portion of the surface being inspected, and further, can be very time consuming.
Other known inspection systems include imaging systems that remain out of contact with the part being inspected. These systems can obtain 2-dimensional data and 3-dimensional data by producing images from different wave lengths of light. In order to produce both 2-D images and 3-D images, at least two separate cameras and two separate light sources are required, with one camera and light source being set-up to produce a first image and the other camera and light source being setup to produce a second image. The separate cameras and light sources can be set-up to obtain an image simultaneously with one another, however, although these systems are capable of generating images of the surface being inspected, they take up valuable manufacturing floor space by nature of having multiple cameras and light sources, and further, the light sources can interfere with one another, thereby producing an less than desirable image quality. As such, in order to avoid light interference, another known inspection system can set-up a single camera with separate light sources to obtain separate images at separate times from one another. However, these systems have the inherent draw back of requiring the surface being inspected to be stationary while the separate images are obtained.